Rowland To Limit Guns At State Offices

The Measure Would Prohibit State Employees, Except Law Enforcement Personnel, From Carrying Weapons To Work.

August 04, 1999|By MATTHEW DALY; Courant Staff Writer

Nearly a year and a half after a disgruntled worker shot and killed four executives at state lottery headquarters, Gov. John G. Rowland will issue an executive order banning state employees from carrying guns and other dangerous weapons to work.

The order, which has been under consideration for more than a year, states that any executive branch employee who violates the state's ``zero tolerance'' policy on workplace safety will be disciplined, and could be fired. It would also bar state employees from threatening -- even in jest -- to kill or harm others at state offices and work sites.

The order, which could be issued as soon as today, is intended ``to ensure that there is a clear and consistent statewide understanding that dangerous weapons are not allowed in the workplace, except when needed for their jobs,'' such as by law-enforcement officers, said Rowland's spokesman, Dean Pagani.

It is the latest in a series of steps the state has taken to beef up security since the March 1998 lottery shootings, in which accountant Matthew Beck shot and killed four lottery managers before killing himself.

Shortly after the shootings, the state began a review of security measures at state offices and started an $18 million program to increase security at more than 1,100 state buildings.

The state has tightened security at most buildings and begun training sessions to help workers recognize signs of possible violence by co- workers or members of the public entering state property.

Rowland's executive order is the most dramatic step yet and demonstrates his evolving stance on gun control. Rowland, a Republican, has never been known as a strong gun- control supporter, but he recently signed a bill allowing police to confiscate guns from people judged to be dangerous or unstable, even if they haven't committed a crime.

Pagani acknowledged Rowland's evolving views. ``The governor thinks that not only the lottery shooting but events across the country the last few years require a change in approach. There's a need to clarify the statewide standard.''

A spokesman for a state employees' union applauded the order, but worried that Rowland's ``zero tolerance'' policy focused too much on punishment.

``That kind of approach doesn't work,'' said Bill Meyerson, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 4, which represents 17,000 state employees.

A more effective approach would emphasize getting help for workers who threaten violence, Meyerson said, noting that surveys show employees are less likely to report an incident if they believe that someone will be disciplined as opposed to getting treatment.

Rowland, in an interview with the Associated Press, said events such as the lottery shootings and the slaying of nine people at an Atlanta office complex last week have convinced him that ``some dramatic steps'' are needed to crack down on workplace violence.

``With what's happened in this country in the last few years, I think workers . . . should have a sense of safety,'' he said. ``They should have a sense that there is a standard, that guns are not going to be allowed into my workplace.''

Robert Crook, a gun lobbyist and head of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, called the order an over- reaction to an isolated event. He noted that under existing law, only those with a permit to carry a concealed weapon can carry a gun into a state building -- and even then cannot carry guns into a courthouse or other high-security site.

``It's like saying we'll issue you a license to drive, but you can't drive on state roads, because we don't trust you,'' Crook said of Rowland's new order. ``It's nuts.''